President Barack Obama will nominate W. Thomas Reeder Jr. to serve as director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the White House announced.
Mr. Reeder, whose nomination was announced Wednesday, has served as health-care counsel at the Internal Revenue Service since March 2013. He was senior benefits counsel on the Senate Finance Committee staff from 2009 to 2013, and held numerous tax policy positions with the Department of Treasury. He has also worked in private law practice.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who recommended Mr. Reeder for the position, said he would work to move the nomination quickly through the committee and full Senate approval. “His leadership is especially important at this point in time when the trend is to move away from defined benefit pension plans, when the nation's savings rate remains low and budgets are tight at the PBGC,” Mr. Wyden said in a statement. Mr. Reeder “has a passion and experience with pension matters but he is someone who works well with others and can get things done.”
